Through Years We Change
by musiclover9
Summary: Scout, excuse me Jean now, is starting high school. She's no longer the tomboy, but is now a young woman loved by all. Suddenly, her life and feelings are turned topsy turvy when her childhood live returns after years away. Were the two meant to be?
1. After All This Time

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.**

**So this is my first _To Kill a Mockingbird _fanfic. Up until this point I had pretty muched stayed within the Jane Austen section. Then this idea came to me and so I'm just kind of throwing it out there. I don't know if it's really original or even if it's good, but I hope you enjoy it.

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**Chapter 1**

_After all this time_

"Wouldya hurry up Scout?" Jem shouted.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'." A girl of fourteen entered the room in which Jem was impatiently tapping his foot. " 'n I've been telling you for two years now to stop callin' me Scout. It's Jean now."

"You've been Scout to me for fourteen years 'n it ain't gonna stop now." Jem stated.

"Atticus stopped callin' me Scout years ago, Jem. He's been calling me Jean just like I asked him to." Jean retorted.

"Well, Jean makes you sound like a girl." Jem scowled

"I am a girl!" She shouted so loud that Jem had to cover his ears.

"I remember when you didn't want to me called a girl."

"Those days are over Jem. I'm fourteen now. I wear dresses and like boys." Scout twirled around as she said this knowing that it would annoy Jem.

He instead continued with the conversation previous to this. "S'ppose I didn't want to be called Jem anymore?"

"Then I'd call you Jeremy, but you don't like Jeremy which is why we call you Jem."

"What if I changed my mind? Would you really break your habit of callin' me Jem?" he interrogated her.

"It'd take a lil' while, but I'd at least try to not call you Jem!"

"I try!" he exclaimed indignantly.

"No ya don't!" Jean shouted.

Calpurnia shouted at them from the kitchen. "Mister Jem and Miss Jean Louise, you'd better stop that shoutin'! You're too old to be fightin' like chillun over something like that."

Jean huffed and sunk into a chair. Jem remained standing. Occasionally, he would pace the room, but after a few moments he would stop. Jean looked up at her brother from the chair she was sitting in. "Why'd you rush me, Jem? I have to sit 'n wait anyway."

Jem didn't reply. He just continued pacing in silence. He tried sitting in the large armchair in the corner of the room, but he couldn't keep still. He glanced at the clock. Then, after a long while he spoke. "Let's go."

"Go where?" Jean demanded

"To the corner! Where else?" Jem said in a tone that implied that Jean was an idiot for not figuring it out on her own.

"The corner? Awww…Jem, we haven't stood at that corner in ages. We were little kids then!"

"Come on Scout."

Jean didn't bug. She simply eyed him and clenched her fists. He tried to force her out of her seat, but he could not move her. "Why not?" he said finally giving up on forcing her up.

"I'll feel like a baby waiting on the corner for Atticus." She said with a pout.

"Please, I can't just sit in here 'n wait." Jem pleaded. She was unmoved. Jem continued begging and even threw in a, "Come on, Jean."

Her defense fell. "Alright! Let's go to the corner, but only if you swear to…"

"Yeah! Sure, I swear!" he shouted.

"You didn't even let me finish!" Jean's hand was instinctively placed on her hip.

"Fine! Finish, but quickly."

"YouhavetosweartonotcallmeScout." Jean said so quickly that it sounded like one word.

Jem could decipher it and to prove to her that he knew what she said he said to her. "I swear Jean! Now, let's go!"

The two walked out unto the porch. Miss Maudie was outside of her tiny one-story house, trimming her bushes. Jem and Jean didn't know how old she was exactly, but they knew she wasn't much younger than Atticus. She, like every older woman, had visible crow's feet, but had very few large wrinkles. "Jem and Jean Louise, what are you doin'?" she asked suspiciously as the pair walked down the stairs of the porch. "I haven't you two out at this hour in years."

"We're not up to anything bad, Miss Maudie." Jean shouted across the street. Then under her breath she muttered to Jem. "I told ya this would be odd."

Miss Maudie gave them a small smile. "It's 'bout the time that Atticus gets home, isn't it?" She questioned slyly.

"Yes, m'am." Jem itched to move again.

"Well you just look so impatient Jem Finch that I think I'll stop boring you with my useless chatter." Miss Maudie laughed.

"It ain't useless Miss Maudie." Jean said. "Jem here is just being a downright pain, so ignore 'im."

"I can't do that Jean Louise. Not seeing as today is such a special day." She then turned her head in Jem's direction. "Congratulations and good luck, Jem!"

"Thanks Miss Maudie," was all Jem said in reply before walking quickly to the corner. Jean solemnly followed him. She remembered when this was fun. She remembered waiting each day after school was done to go running to the corner. She remembered that when Jem had to read to Mrs. Dubose how upset she had been that she couldn't meet Atticus at the corner. Why now was it suddenly such a burden? Why had she changed? She knew the answer, but she was scared by it. She had changed because she had grown up. She was afraid of this. She didn't want to grow up anymore because she just didn't want to change anymore. She wished there was a way to stop it.

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**Not very long I know, but was it good? Review!**


	2. I Don't Want To Say Goodbye

**Disclaimer: I do not own a majority of these characters.

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**Chapter 2**

_I don't want to say goodbye_

Atticus sat rigid in his seat. Jean looked over at him. His face was like a statue, frozen solid. The sound of the church organ drifted up to the arched ceiling where it bounced and ringed for a long while after the actual music had ended. Jem stood up from his seat in the front row of the church and made his way over to the pulpit where Reverend Lewis stood ever Sunday while giving his long-winded homily. Jean looked over at Atticus again. His face had now melted into a warm smile that showed the world his pride. Jem caught his eye, smiled, and then began.

"Good evenin' everyone. Tonight is a special night for me and all of my friends sittin' there in the front row." Everyone in the church seemed to simultaneously shift in their seats to get a better look at the fourteen young men and women sitting in the row Jem had pointed to. "It's a night when we can look back on fond memories of the past and at the same time look forward to the future. We can reflect on how lucky we have been to receive as good of an education as we did and that all those you have helped us to achieve this much. I know that I feel lucky. I have grown up with a father who is like no other father, a sister who is like every other sister and not afraid to put me in my place when my head gets to big, and a cook who is like part of the family and has disciplined me in the way my father never could." The audience laughed. "And I am so sad to leave and so scared, but I know that it'll all be alright. They'll always be there and those people in the front row, they'll always be there too. After twelve years of learning together those fourteen people have become like my honorary brother or sister. We all care for each other and that is what has made learning in Maycomb for the past twelve years so incredible. I know, and I think we're all aware, that no university will ever be like that and so I'm glad to have had this experience before having to enter into the chaos of a university. I love each and everyone of those people who are graduating with me tonight and I want to wish each of them all the luck in the world as we move on in life. Thank you." Jem left the pulpit and sat once again with those fourteen other graduates. Atticus was still smiling and continued smiling the whole night. He smiled as Jem received his diploma and smiled as he walked up the aisle with his classmates and out the door. He was even smiling when Jem walked up to us later with his arm around the waist of Carry Ann.

"Well what did ya' think of the speech Atticus."

"It was good, not too long and not too short." Was all Atticus said. He had a tendency to not tell us when he was extremely proud of his children so as not make them arrogant.

"I told ya'!" Carry Ann smiled. "I told ya' it was just fine."

Jem gave her a smile that apparently melted the hearts of every girl from the eighth grade up. "I know, but I just wanted to hear what Atticus had to say."

Carry Ann her head as though she didn't understand and then left his side to come to talk to me. "I've never seen a boy more attached to his father than Jem is to Mr. Finch."

"Atticus is just about the only older person we've ever met who talks with some sense. Miss Maudie and Calpurnia are the only other too."

"He's a smart man Mr. Finch. Jem n' you are just like em'."

"I know Atticus is a smart man, but I'm not sure if we've taken after him that much. I think ya' give us too much credit Carry Ann."

"No, yer wrong Jean Louise. Jem's gonna go far n' so will you. I just hope he won't leave me behind."

"Jem wouldn't do that n' if he did I'd sock im'." Jean punched the air pretending as though it were Jem. Carry Ann laughed.

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Jean peeked through the door that connected her room to Jem's. He had pull out ever drawer in his entire dresser and was simply dumping them into the few suitcases and bags that he had laid out on the bed. "I thought you told Calpurnia that you had already packed? N' that was yesterday!" She watched as he continued pouring the drawer's contents into one of the bags. When it was empty, he turned to look at Jean, who was leaning against the doorframe.

"I was too nervous to pack."

"Yesterday?"

"Yes. It'd just remind me how I'm leavin' in the mornin' n' I don't want to be reminded of that."

"Well like you said in your speech, we'll always be here; me, Atticus, n' Calpurnia. Carry Ann will always be there for ya' too. You know she's crazy 'bout ya' n' your crazy 'bout her."

"Don't quote my speech Scout…"

"Jean!"

"Sorry,…Jean, I don't wanna think 'bout what I'm leavin' behind. Atticus, Calpurnia, Carry Ann, n' you. I don't wanna go Jean. I don't wanna go." He placed his head in his hands.

"Don't say that Jem! Your just a lil' bit nervous, that's all. Ya' know ya' wanna go n' ya' will go. You'll adjust to college life within a few days. You just watch." Jean put her arms around Jem.

Jem let her remain there for a few seconds before he shook her off so that he could stand up again. Lifting up another drawer he said, "I guess your right Jean. Ya' know. You've really grown up in the past few years. I guess I was just to blind ta' see it 'til now. Thanks for the pep talk n' all, but now I should get back to packin'. After all, I'm leavin' in the mornin'."

Jean nodded and went back to her room, closing the joining door behind her. As she sat on her bed, she heard Atticus say to her from the door that led from her room to the hallway. "That was a nice thing you did for Jem, Jean. He need to hear from someone that he was ready to go."

Jean looked up at Atticus. His once again resembled a statue. Then she whispered so that Jem wouldn't hear her through the wall. "Atticus, I don't want im' to go."

She began to cry, softly so that Jem wouldn't hear her sobs. Atticus sat down on the bed next. He didn't say anything; he just sat there and waited until the tears ceased to roll down her cheeks. "I know Jean. It'll be a hard thing to adjust to. You've grown up with Jem always being there so not having him there will be hard at first, but you're a strong girl and you'll get through it."

"Do ya' really think so Atticus?"

"I do." Suddenly Jean felt like she was seven again and Atticus was telling her that everything would be okay even though they had declared Tom Robinson guilty. She missed when she was little and she had felt that Atticus was her god, but she knew that growing up was part of life.

"Jem'll do good won't he Atticus?"

"Yes, he'll do just fine, Jean. He'll do just fine."

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**A/N: For some reason I suck at making long chapters. I start typing something up and I feel like it's really long, but then it's really not. I tried to make this chapter longer, but I don't really think that it is any longer than the last chapter so from now on just expect short chapters. I'd love to write you a longer one, but it seems I am incapable of doing so. Anyway, I didn't get many reviews (actually I only got one review so if you're reading this chapter please review and tell me what you think), but what I did get was very positive. I want to try and continue this story, but reviews help that to happpen because without many reviews I loose hope. Don't let me lose hope or i swear I'll send the flying monkeys to attack you. So on that note, thanks for reading and review!**


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